electric charge is a fundamental property of matter that dictates how particles interact with electric and magnetic fields. It comes in two flavors: positive and negative.
Attraction and Repulsion: Like charges repel each other, while unlike charges attract. This is the basic principle behind how charged objects interact.
Neutral Objects: An object with no net charge is considered electrically neutral. This means it has equal positive and negative charges, canceling each other's effects.
Fundamental Particles: Electrons have a negative charge, and protons in an atom's nucleus have a positive charge. Neutrons, however, have no charge. The overall charge of an object depends on the balance between these particles.
Charge Quantization: Electric charge comes in discrete units, multiples of the fundamental charge carried by an electron or a proton. This means you can't have a fraction of an electron's charge, for example.
Electric charge is a conserved quantity, meaning the total amount of charge in a closed system always stays the same. It can be transferred between objects through various processes like friction, but it can't be created or destroyed.